Night Of Flames
by Neon Toaster
Summary: Ruby Jones, alone, hungry and tired, walking down an endless road remembering bad memories and wishing she could've saved her family. She walks alone, by herself, until one day she meets him, he finds her and gives her a place to stay, a place to call home. My first Walking Dead fic! It's a Carl/OC story, rated T because the killing of walkers and stuff
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO! This is my first Walking Dead story so please enjoy it, feedback would be extremely appreciated too!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the walking dead or any characters apart from Ruby**

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"Great... Rain..." The girl said aloud as she walked down the deserted road. She held tightly onto her backpack and her baseball bat, her converse barely dragging her feet across the ground, her clothes ruined and stained with blood. She rubbed her tired eyes and cried. She was alone, her family, gone, her friends gone and everyone she knew was gone.

This was it, this was her life now, to be alone amongst those... Things. She didn't get to ask Jimmy to the school dance next Saturday, she didn't get to study for that massive test that was coming up, not that she minded, but still, the thoughts of these moments that felt so close, have been shattered.

Her name was Ruby, the rain crashed down on her brown hair, although her hair would curl naturally after being drenched in rain or leaving it to dry after a shower, her eyes were a dark chocolate hazel brown, her skin fair with just a few freckles hinted around her nose and cheeks. She was at the age of 14 soon to be 15, unfortunately she lost what day it was now, she didn't care much, she has been walking for days, passing so many corpses and some walking ones she had to kill, it made her feel sick. She was loosing hope of living, she was extremely thirsty and in need of food. She was a brave girl, she wasn't too boyish but she wasn't weak, she was quite flexible, taking gymnastics when she was four, it helped her a lot in dire situations, her kicks and punches were quite powerful.

But right now, she felt weak and fragile, like she could break at any moment. As she continued to walk along the road she looked to the side, she saw a prison. A secure, safe looking prison, she couldn't have been happier, but as she looked on she could spot one or two walkers, wandering about. She crouched and headed towards the entrance of the fence.

She quickly got out her dad's handgun from her backpack and kept it close. She crawled slowly past the walkers, hoping not to make too much sound, the prison was still quite far away though, she carried on.

"AAARRGHGH!" Ruby turned round to see a walker, she screamed and shot it in the head, closing her eyes as it happened, the walker died beside her and almost instantly two more walkers were coming towards her, she looked around in panic, a tree! She thought, she clambered up the tree and gained her balance, sitting on a heavy branch, she had no idea what to do, she held her baseball bat firm and realised what she had to do

Ruby jumped down from the tree, perfectly landing on her feet. She looked at the walkers and whacked one in the head, knocking it over, she spun round and whacked the other one, they didn't seem to wake up, she breathed heavily wiping her head. She continued to walk towards the prison like nothing happened, she hated killing walkers. As she walked she hoped of finding people and a place to stay overnight. She walked along the grass, gradually getting closer, she heavily let out a breath and suddenly jumped to a sound of someone's voice.

"Hey, who are you?" Ruby panicked, she looked around and realised the voice was coming in front of her, it was a boy, around her age, he was stood there looking at her, gun in hand wearing a sheriff hat. She suddenly went very shy

"I-I'm Ruby, I've been lost walking alone for days, I was um... Wondering if you know a place I could rest and some get food." Ruby said politely.

"Are you scratched or bitten?" The boy asked, ignoring her question

"No, I only got a scratch from jumping down a tree." She said holding up her hand, showing a slightly bleeding hand.

"Are you alone?" He asked once more

"Yes." Ruby said quietly,

"How many people have you kill and/or walkers." The boy added, giving his final question.

"Three..." Ruby said quietly, thinking back to that day when she woke up with her family trying to eat her, the screaming, the crying and the gunshots, it made her heart wrench with pain, she was also confused on why the boy was asking her so many strange questions.

The boy looked at her, she looked extremely tired and hungry, her eyelids were barely staying up and her clothes were ruined by blood and dirt.

"Ok, follow me." He just said simply. He started walking away from her and she followed him beside the fence keeping them apart, he then quickly pulled out a wire that was closing a hole in the fence, she stepped in cautiously, hoping not to get scratched from the sharp fence.

"My name's Carl by the way." He said to her, Ruby nodded.

"This way." Carl said, he gently took the weak girl's hand and lead her through another gate and into the building. His hand felt soft against hers, she hadn't seen a human or heard one in days, to say the least she was extremely relieved. Carl lead her down a few more halls and into a cell block full of a group of people.

"Carl, who's that?" A man said standing up, looking at Ruby and Carl.

"This is Ruby, she's really lost and extremely hungry." Carl replied.

"Got any scratches or bites?" Another man said he was holding some arrows and a crossbow, his eyes were evil looking and he scared her just a bit.

"No sir..." Ruby said quietly and politely.

"Okay, Carl find her a bed and let her rest." The first man said, Carl nodded, leading Ruby to a cell, still holding Ruby's hand.

"Is here okay?" He asked her politely, Ruby nodded and gave a small smile of appreciation, Carl smiled back and left her to her sleep.

Ruby sat on the bunk and felt the soft mattress beneath her, she started to cough, it was a very loud cough that got more fiercer, her throat was heavy and all she could do was lie down, her eyes closed and all she saw then was darkness.

"Carl? what are you doing?" Carl's father, Rick asked him walking into Ruby's room, Carl had a chair pulled up a bit close to Ruby's bed where she was resting, you could say he was watching her, not in a creepy way or anything but about twenty minutes ago, she passed out.

"I'm watching over her incase she wakes up or anything." He said plainly, Rick smilled and left the room to join the others

"You really have to see how sweet Carl is, he's sitting by her bed and watching over her." Rick said smiling, the group exchanged some 'awws' and smiles, it was done quietly but Carl could hear, his cheeks heating up slowly.

Ruby's eyes slowly fluttered open to the smell of food, she sat up banging her head on the bunk above her.

"Ow..." She said rubbing her head.

"Oh you're awake." A voice said, Ruby turned her head to see Carl smiling at her, she smiled back.

"Uh... Dinner is ready if you want to eat, but you can stay here if you want." Carl said to her.

"I think I'll have some dinner please." She said standing up, he walked in front of her and the two went to dinner.

During dinner she met everyone, Rick, Daryl, Tyreese, Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Mika, Lizzie, Carol, Bob, Karen and Carl's little sister Judith. They seemed like a friendly bunch and they asked her stuff and she asked them things, Ruby was very shy around everyone but she was still talkative.

"So you got any weapons, heard you killed some walkers yourself." Daryl asked me amongst the chatter of the table.

"Oh yeah, I do, it's just a baseball bat nothing special, but I have a gun my uncle gave me but I've never used it." She replied to him, he nodded.

"I could maybe teach you how to use it." Carl asked listening to our conversation.

"Sure." Ruby said smiling.

"Carl is good with a gun, a fast learner too." Daryl said and Carl smiled.

"You have such pretty hair." Carol said smiling at the girl, talking about her wavy brown hair.

"Oh... Thank you." She said feeling embarrassed, but there was a big smile on her face from the compliment.

"Yeah." Carl said quietly, he suddenly realised what he said and covered it up with a few coughs. Ruby smiled to herself.

Dinner ended and Ruby went back to her bed. She laid down and closed her eyes but suddenly she realised she couldn't sleep, that nap was so long it made her feel awake for the night, she didn't know what to do now, she sighed and just looked at the room around her. She suddenly got up and went to Carl's cell.

"Carl." She called out softly she waited a while until she heard some movement.

"Yep." He said tiredly.

"I'm really sorry for bothering you... I can't sleep." She said looking down. Carl instantly stood up, putting on his jacket and hat, he walked out of the darkness to meet Ruby standing in front of her.


	2. Chapter 2

` "What do we do now?" Ruby asked Carl looking at him.

"I could show you round, this is really the only place you know." Carl suggested, Ruby looked outside and it was starting to get dark.

"We have to be quiet though." Carl whispered, the two creeped down the hall and he showed her round the prison, showing her where the food is stored, how many halls there were and other things, Ruby enjoyed being with him, he was different and quite sweet if you say. As they got further down the halls, it began to get darker, Ruby gently gestured to hold Carl's hand, which he took. The two blushed, Carl took out his flashlight and they continued through the prison talking, Ruby told Carl about her history before the apocalypse.

"You know, I remember just walking home from school and mom told me we were going to visit my aunt, a few days later we didn't hear from her at all, we just assumed she was out.." Ruby whispered sadly, her voice echoing down the hall.

"That's terrible..." Carl said sadly

"My dad was in the hospital at the time, in a coma and had no idea what happened once he woke up." Carl explained

"God that must've been terrifying for him." Ruby gulped, feeling sorry for Rick, imagining waking up and having no idea what the hell is happening, Ruby thought.

"I think we should turn back." Carl said, even though the boy was quite fearless, he didn't want anything bad to happen, Ruby nodded and they headed back, continuing to talk about random things, what they'll miss about normal life and what they won't miss, the two agreed on school as a definite won't miss!

"Thanks for walking with me, I'm terrible at getting to sleep." Ruby stated when they were arriving back.

"Anytime, in the morning I could show you the garden, we have pigs too." He said smiling at her.

"Sounds great." Ruby giggled, smiling back at him, the two parted to their seperate beds, Ruby thought of him as a really good friend, she went to bed with a smile on her face.

But when Carl left to his bed, all he could think was her, she was beautiful and had a great personality, he was becoming to really like her, maybe not just as a friend. But he promised himself that he wouldn't rush into things, unless she wanted

Breakfast was as normal, Ruby sat with Judith in her arms, she was crying but soon calmed her as she gently rocked her back and forth, Ruby was wearing a flannel shirt and jeans borrowed from someone in the group. There were people everywhere, she didn't get to meet all of these people yet though, she was told they were survivors from a town named Woodbury.

"You're great with her, d'you have any brothers or sisters?" Beth asked, Beth was three years older than Ruby, Ruby took a liking to her, she was very kind.

"Just the one older brother, I used to babysit a lot though, so I have a little experience." Ruby explained smiling as Judith made little cute sounds.

"She's beautiful." Ruby added looking down at the little bundle of joy.

"Just like her mother." Carol chimed in, everyone took a moment to smile at the baby with a saddened look as well, Ruby wasn't quite sure what happened to Judith's and Carl's mother but she nodded slightly and continued to gently rock her.

It was these moments that Carl and Ruby would remember in their growing up lives, these moments where it should be in a completely different setting, Carl sat there and looked around at everyone, these people are the people he would know until the day he would die. Ruby gave Judith back to Beth, she told Ruby it was time to change her and feed her. Ruby went back to her cell, she gently sat down on her bed and opened her backpack which was underneath her bed, it had her most precious possessions in there, she took out a tin box, with a colorful picture of a circus tent on the front, Ruby carefully took off the lid. Inside were pictures, badges, a necklace, letters, a ring, a key ring. These things were very small things that she carefully but very quickly took from her house. She took out one picture, it was a picture of Ruby and her mother, Ruby was ten, she was having a picnic with her parents she remembered that moment as if it was yesterday, her hands trembled as she held the photo. A little tear escaped and slowly cascaded down her cheek. She put the photo back and closed the lid, she wiped away the tear. She sat there and looked at the ceiling, she closed her eyes and remembered the moment when she knew her life was changed forever.

Flashback

"Night mom, night dad!" Ruby exclaimed smiling, her parents waved and she went up the stairs, she made her way to her room and jumped onto her bed, she grabbed the comic by her bedside table, she turned off her light and turned on her lamp.

"Hey, what did I say about reading late? Ten more minutes kay?" Ruby's mom said walking into her room and taking her washing out.

"Sure mom." Ruby answered tiredly, Ruby's mom left her room and went to her brother's room to get his washing too.

Ruby rubbed her eyes and yawned, she threw the comic to the side, switched off her lamp and settled down for bed.

Meanwhile on the news, the news reporter was talking about a disease outbreak,

"Millions of people have been found dead in Atlanta city and many people have been trying to leave the country, flights have been cancelled and citizens are claiming this is the end of the world. We definitely advise all people to lock their doors and windows and turn off their lights, further information will be reported soon. We have a few footage caught on camera, the images you are about to see are very graphic" Ruby's father watched in horror as he saw a person bite down onto another person's neck while he was being shot, although it was blurred out you could tell what was happening, millions of these almost dead like people were walking about the street. Ruby's father instantly shot upstairs and told his wife. He brung her downstairs and showed her the news report, things similar to this we're being reported days ago but it wasn't as bad as this.

"This has gotta be fake! Stupid pranksters!" Ruby's father said angrily, but her mother did not agree.

"We're leaving tomorrow." Ruby's mother stated in fear. She heard something a week ago about an illness. Meanwhile Ruby could hear this conversation, she felt confused, maybe we were leaving early to visit auntie Maria... But we haven't heard from her in days... Ruby thought, she shrugged and closed her eyes.

The night went on, there were more reports, and Ruby's parents were becoming anxious, they lived right in Atlanta City, they double locked all their doors and windows. That night, a few walkers broke in and bit both Ruby's mother and father.

The morning came around and she felt something tugging at her duvet she ever so tightly held, it was probably her cat Sampson, although it was quite strong and forceful, Ruby yawned and came out from the bedcovers. In front of her was her mother and father grabbing for her, they looked almost dead like! Their eyes were a dead grey color and both wreaked with the smell of blood, Ruby screamed.

"RUN!" Ruby's brother Peter shouted. Ruby panicked and ran down the stairs until she tripped, on the last step, she struggled to get up and Ruby's mother grabbed onto her leg, she kicked and kicked but she wouldn't let go, she looked round and she moved her leg about, she noticed her baseball bat on the sofa, she kicked her mother as she tried to bite on her leg, she quickly maneuvered herself, grabbed the bat and hit her in the head, Ruby stopped, her mother laid there silently. She heard a shot from upstairs and Ruby fell to her knees and cried.

End of flashback.

Ruby opened her eyes again and continued to stare at the ceiling, more tears forming. She didn't even know if Peter was still alive... She buried her face in her hands and sobbed a little.

"You okay?" A voice said, Ruby looked up and Rick

"Not so much..." Ruby said sadly, Ruby looked at him and smiled slightly

"Why so?" Rick asked sitting on the chair near her bed.

"I just... Miss my parents, they're gone and all I wanna do right now is run home and just hug them but I can't." Ruby said getting ready to cry again.

"Hell, I don't even know if my brother is alive or not!" She said starting to wipe away tears.

"Hey, it's okay, I... Know how you feel." Rick said pausing slighty. Ruby smiled a reassuring smiled.

"I lost my wife, I nearly lost Carl and Judith, I didn't recover for a long time and I'm still not, but I'm telling you now... It gets better, one day you'll look back and only see good moments, it won't be as hard, sure you'll feel sad here and there but you'll get better." He said in a very comforting way, I smiled and gave him a hug, he hugged me back and I sat back on to my bed

"Thank you Mr Grimes." I said quietly and politely, he nodded and left my cell. I sat there smiling, I was really beginning to like these people here.

"You're a good kid, I trust you." He said as he left Ruby's cell, he said it in a very approving manner, Ruby nodded to herself, even though she didn't understand it much, she then pulled out a marvel comic from her bag and leaned back on her pillow, then sat up.

"You like comics?" Carl said with excitement, Ruby looked up and smiled

"Yeah it's kind of a hobby, I tried writing one once but it's not very good..." Ruby replied, Ruby moved to the side of her bed and Carl sat down next to her. She got out her comic that she made, it was about a sort of spy super heroin, on the front cover was the main heroin, she had dark ginger hair like Ruby's and wore a black dress with black sunglasses on, and a leather jacket. Ruby explained the plot to Carl and she showed him it, she went on these adventures of spying and saving with cool weapons and gear.

"This is so good! You're a really great writer and artist." Carl exclaimed, Ruby blushed, he was the first person Ruby EVER showed her comic to.

"Thanks, you know, you're the first person I've shown this to." Ruby said looking down in embarrassment.

"I must be pretty special then." He stated smiling at me, Ruby looked at him again and nodded slightly in shyness.

"You kids up for a run?" Daryl asked the two, walking into Ruby's cell, kind of ruining Carl and Ruby's moment...

"Sure." Carl replied, run? Like running exercize? Ruby thought.

"Is your dad okay with it?" Daryl asks Carl.

"Yeah." Carl lied, his dad doesn't really like him going on runs

"What's a run?" Ruby asked looking confused.

"You go out to the nearest store, get supplies, I'll be with you guys but you can go off and find whatever." Daryl explained. Ruby nodded, understanding the concept. Ruby was given time to get ready, she got her baseball bat and Daryl gave her a small dagger, she got her backpack packed with some random things, she packed a medical kit which Beth gave to her, Incase anything happened. Carl and Ruby walked outside, Beth was talking to a boy, she then kissed him.

"Where do you think you two are going?" Rick says to Carl and Ruby, Carl sighs.

"Please dad?" Carl asks, Rick shakes his head

"I think Ruby isn't quiet experienced enough, now, why don't you two go and join the other kids? Tell em' stories." Rick said to Carl, Carl sighed and walked off, Ruby following him, they went to go keep watch outside.

"Sorry, he says you were okay with it." Daryl explained to Rick to Rick, Rick says it was okay and made a funny comment on how Carl is definitely trying to show off to Ruby, which to then the two laughed

Afterwards Carl went off to help someone and Ruby was alone, she stood outside just looking at the sky, she loved the sky and clouds. Suddenly she heard some shuffling. Ruby turned round and saw a boy, he had round glasses and messy dark hair, he smiled at Ruby.

"Hello." She said shyly.

"Hi, I'm Patrick, aren't you the one that arrived yesterday?" He asked me, I nodded and he smiled.


End file.
